Id's John Carmack predicts mobile devices as powerful as today's consoles in two years

One of the most influential people in the gaming industry, John Carmack, the person behind Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake, predicted that mobile devices will be comparable in power to what today's consoles offer.

"It’s unquestionable that within a very short time, we’re going to have portable cell phones that are more powerful than the current-gen consoles," Carmack said in an interview for IndustryGamers. "People have exaggerated the relative powers - the iPad2 is not more powerful than the 360. It’s still a factor of a couple weaker. But the fact that it’s gotten that close that fast - that means that almost certainly, 2 years from now, there will be mobile devices more powerful than what we’re doing all these fabulous games on right now."

The iPad has grown to have over 100,000 apps in slightly less than a year and a half, a stunning growth for a device that opened a new form factor. But it's not just the user who benefits from this growth – developers on iOS alone have registered $2.5 billion in revenue to date. The convenience of having a mobile device matching a console is unquestionable and the gaming guru admitted that he sees huge prospects in mobile gaming and cloud gaming services like OnLive. Do you think that consoles can eventually be replaced by mobile devices or will those two platforms just keep on growing in parallel? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments below.

Display mode:

1.android_hitman (unregistered)

Don't worry, John. Apple has already done this, like everything else lol, just by the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. And it being able to offer console style games for cheap prices and on the go makes it practically unrivaled.

While Android barely has anything going for it gamewise, unsurprisingly.

dude! get a life and stop watching WWE all the time... all that's going to your head!
android has ALMOST the same roster of games available...
not to mention the games like Riptide:GP which is only available on androids.... and Aftermath XHD and the rest.... so man, Android has a lot going for it gamewise

i don't think i'm the kid here... i'm not the one watching WWE here.
give me examples of where android sucks in gaming?
your iPhone 4's graphics processor is slower than the sgs2's processor.... that's a factor too you know!

You can never get the type of control you get from a console on a mobile device. Imagine you playing Call of Duty Black Ops on your iPhone & me on my Xbox 360. I would kill you & you may never kill me because the level of control on a iPhone can't even be mentioned compared to a console. That is where mobile games FAIL. They will NEVER be in that league of consoles. The Nintendo 3DS has more compelling games than ANYTHING on Apple's iPhone. The 3DS controls kill iPhone's controls any day also. I am not even going to mention Playstation Vita because that just murders the iPhone! So if I want compelling games I will play them on my console, NOT on an iPhone, Android, Windows or any phones. Now if I am at an airport & I want to pass some time, Angry Birds fits the bill. Unless I can play Uncharted on Playstation Vita or Resident Evil on the 3DS. Wow would that be so much better than Angry Birds on a phone. lol

i agree, but its still an improvement none the less..., but most mobile games for iOS and Android are really good already, like the Gameloft games for the Android and iOS, and i will be really pleased if they reach console level...
plus, you kinda forgot the Xperia Play. that has the best controls on a mobile phone i have ever seen :D, almost matching the PSP go.

Thank you, you know why the Xperia Play has sick controls because of the console quality control. If you want a Playstation style gaming console just get a Playstation Vita. That will kill the Xperia Play!

i know the vita will do much more than kill the Xperia Play, it will MASSACRE it!

My best friend got the Play for his birthday and the game controls are awesome!... mostly the big improvement is in FPS and action games like Backstab HD and Modern Combgat 2: Black Pegasus.

I'm very impressed with the Vita and my brother is buying it, but i'll still continue to buy the Gameloft games, as well as the other Tegra specific games to play on my SGS2 when i get it...(using chainfire 3D) that makes it soo much betterWP7 doesn't have a lot going for it gamewise :/

what would be even better would be if they were able to pack enough processing power among other things into Android / WP7 handsets, and then we could play quality games on the go, and when at home, hook them up via HDMI or DLNA, hook up wireless controllers via bluetooth, and play on the big screen.....
that would be AWESOME!
imagine playing gears of war 2 on the bus, and continuing it on the TV :)
*dreams*

Dude you can read my mind. I would love to carry an extra controller in my bag & be able to play Gears on my phone, save it & then keep the game going on the big screen. I can see myself playing a multi player match while waiting for my flight in an airport. Dude we think alike! lol If that were to EVER happen, like a quad-core Windows Phone 7 that I can do all of that I will definitely get that phone. I can still use the phone for work like I do my Android phone, but with that added Xbox Live functionality would be SICK!

9.R1ckums (unregistered)

In two years? Try about...end of this year? If you look at the initial Xbox360, PS3, etc specs (before the numerous re-vamps) phones are already there. The Tegra 3, quadcore Snapdragons, etc will make gaming consoles obsolete. With DLNA and HDMI out on these phones, welcome to your new gaming platforms, everyone.

Also, as far as gaming infrastructure, phones are years past Xbox and PS3, need I say "CROSS-PLATFORMING"?

Still waiting on Carmack being a non apple fanboy and bringing games to Android and other OSes. He keeps saying its not ready yet, I guess marketshare means nothing to him, but the logo of a fruit does.

All content (phone reviews, news, specs, info), design and layouts are Copyright 2001-2015 phoneArena.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part or in any form or medium without written permission is prohibited! Privacy . Terms of use . Cookies . Team